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Popularly known as Obagoal, Martins is one of Nigeria’s finest and richest footballers. He was born in Lagos State, Nigeria on 28th, October 1984.
Scouted by Churchill Oliseh, the father of Nigeria’s legendary footballer, Sunday Oliseh, during the days of street football, Martins joined FC Ebedei – a local football club based in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.
Obafemi Martins Profile
- Full name: Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins
- Date of birth: 28 October 1984
- Place of birth: Lagos, Nigeria
- Height: 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
- Position: Forward
Youth career
1999–2000: Ebedei
Senior career
- 2000–2001: Reggiana; 2 Apps
- 2001–2006: Inter Milan; 88 Apps; (28 Gls)
- 2006–2009: Newcastle United; 88 Apps; (28 Gls)
- 2009–2010: VfL Wolfsburg; 16 Apps; (6 Gls)
- 2010–2012: Rubin Kazan; 20 Apps; (3 Gls)
- 2011 → Birmingham City (loan); 4 Apps
- 2012–2013: Levante; 21 Apps; (7 Gls)
- 2013–2015: Seattle Sounders FC; 72 Apps; (40 Gls)
- 2016–2018: Shanghai Shenhua; 40 Apps; (19 Gls)
- 2020: Shanghai Shenhua; 4 Apps
- 2020: Wuhan; 6 Apps; (1 Gl)
National team
2004–2015: Nigeria; 42 Apps; (18 Gls)
Obafemi Martins Biography
Martins spent just one year at Ebedei before leaving the shores of Nigeria for Italy at 16. His first stop in Italy was Reggiana, and it was from there the journey to an illustrious career all began.
He began his senior career as a footballer playing for Inter Milan, before going on to join Newcastle United in 2006, then onto Bundesliga club VFL Wolfsburg in 2009, before joining Birmingham City in January 2011.
After spending the 2009/2010 season at Wolfsburg, Obagoal joined Russian Premier League side, Rubin Kazan, signing a three-year contract with the club.
In the year that followed, Martins requested to be transferred to England to be close to his family. His request was accepted, and he was subsequently loaned to Birmingham City where he won the Football League Cup.
After his loan spell expired, Martins would return to Russia, where he won the Russia League Cup with Rubin Kazan – his first major trophy in Russia.
Joining Levante in 2012, Martins was handed a 2-year contract which only lasted for a season, scoring 7 goals in 21 outings for Levante.
The Nigerian forward teamed up with MLS club Seattle Sounders FC in 2013 as a designated player. According to reports, a sum of $4 million was coughed out by the American club side which was paid to Levante.
During his first season in America, Obagoal was earning $1.6 million annually, thus becoming one of the top five highest earners in the league.
The former Inter Milan and Newcastle striker would bag a number of individual accolades which included the Major League Soccer Goal of the Year award, and the MLS Supporters Shield Award amongst others.
During his late 20s, Martins was not slowing down. He remained fast, sharp, and agile and his deadly left foot retained its power. He spent his latter days in the Chinese Super League, playing for Shanghai Shenhua and Wuhan.
In China, Martins acquired plenty of money and his net worth enjoyed a significant surge. In the goalscoring aspect, Martins wasn’t bad either. He was able to score 20 goals in 50 appearances for the two clubs he featured for.
International Career
Martins’ career for Nigeria’s national team spanned a decade (2004-2014), scoring 18 goals in 39 caps. He is the fifth all-time top scorer for Nigeria after the Late Rashidi Yekini, Segun Odegbami, Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Ikechukwu Uche.
He was handed his Super Eagles debut at the age of 19, during the Unity Cup staged in London. Two years later, Obagoal was a member of the Eagles team that clinched bronze at the 2006 AFCON hosted in Egypt.
Martins would’ve featured more for the Super Eagles, but a series of controversies that saw him go into international exile for two successive years didn’t make that happen and he announced his retirement from international football in 2014.
House and Cars
The weapon of mass destruction reportedly owns houses in different parts of Lagos, Nigeria. These include Festac, Ikeja, Lekki, and Ajah. In 2018, Martins is said to have splashed millions of Nigerian Naira on a luxury apartment located in Eko Atlantic City, an area synonymous with the wealthy.
Besides his houses in Lagos, Obafemi also owns a mansion in Como, Italy, estimated to be worth about ₦800 million.
As for his exotic cars, given that he played for a couple of big clubs in Europe, and the humongous money he gathered during his time in the MLS and Chinese Super League, it’s a no-brainer for Obagoal to not own some of the costliest and fanciest things in the world.
His cars include:
- Mercedes Benz SLR Mc Laren cost $964,521 (N367, 964,761)
- Mercedes Benz G-class cost $295,000 (N112, 542, 500)
- Lamborghini Aventador cost $417, 346 (N162, 000, 000)
- Bentley Bentayga cost $300, 000 (N114, 450, 000)
- Ferrari Spider costing N110 million
Apart from his fleet of expensive cars, he has a yacht to his name. He is the owner of an Iguana 31 Expedition yacht costing over N170 million.
Obafemi Martins Wife, Family and Children
In addition to being the elder brother of Oladipupo Martins, Obagoal was also the younger brother of John Ronan (younger brother).
His older brother died of a heart attack in Lagos, Nigeria, on August 8th, 2011. Before he retired from football in 2009 owing to heart problems.
Who is Obafemi Martins wife?
As strange as it seems, Obafemi Martins is an inlaw of former Manchester City striker, Mario Balotelli having married Abigail Barwuah who is Balotelli’s sister.
Martins married the Ghanaian-Italian wife with whom he has one child named Kendrick. Their story began in 2012 in Milan, Italy, when Obafemi fell in love with Abigail, and the two began dating.
Obafemi Martins Wife, Abigail Barwuah used to be one of Obafemi’s baby mamas before the pair secretly married each other.
Martins’ two other children are Kevin Maussi Martins and Tyler Martins. Both from other women.
Salary and Net-worth
Before he retired totally from football last year, Martins earned handsome salaries at Seattle Sounders, Shanghai Shenhua and Wuhan, becoming one of Nigeria’s richest footballers to date.
Also, a number of endorsements, projects, and investments he is involved in ranging from Real Estate to companies to entertainment in Nigeria have further boosted his wealth.
Reports online reveal that Obagoal has an estimated net worth of about $35 million.
